Olympic Dreams a Mixed Bag For Team Santa Barbara Thursday

Australia’s perfect 6-for-6 showing in a penalty shootout Thursday ended Team U.S.A.’s quest for a fourth consecutive gold medal in women’s water polo at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The final score was 14-13, sending Australia to the championship match against Spain. The Americans will face the Netherlands for the bronze medal at 1:35 a.m. (Pacific time) Saturday.

Ryann Neushul will not be wearing a gold medal like her sisters Kiley (2016) and Jamie (2021), but the former Dos Pueblos High star made plays to keep the national team’s hopes alive in the semifinal match.

Rachel Fattal’s goal early in the fourth quarter put the three-time defending champions ahead 8-6. Australia came back with a pair of goals by Bronte Halligan to tie the score 8-8, and it gained possession and a chance to win with 22 seconds remaining in regulation time.

Neushul, a defensive specialist, pressured Halligan at the perimeter, and the Aussie threw an errant pass, extinguishing the threat as time ran out.

Australia, the first team to shoot in each round the tiebreaker, put the pressure on the Americans to respond to each score. Neushul was the fourth U.S. player on the spot, and she fired the ball past goalie Gabi Palm to tie the shootout at 4-4.

It was 5-5 after five rounds, sending the shootout into sudden death. Australia’s Zoe Arancini slung the ball off Ashleigh Johnson’s outstretched hand into the goal. Maddie Musselman, who scored four times for the Americans, including the first goal of the shootout, tried to skip her next shot past Palm, but the goalie deflected the ball away, securing the upset victory.

Australia has not reached the gold-medal match since it won the first women’s water polo Olympics in 2000. The U.S. women were runner-up then and reached the podium in all six Olympic tournaments. They’ll try to extend that streak to seven against the Dutch.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Team U.S.A. will try to repeat as Olympic champions early Sunday against Italy after defeating Brazil in an exhilarating back-and-forth semi final Friday.

The Americans prevailed in their third five-set match of the Paris Games (25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 23-25, 15-11). Brazil, which had cruised through its previous four matches without losing a set, found itself opposing a team that was fearless under pressure.

Winning the first set was a key, as Kathryn Plummer’s two putaways broke a 23-23 tie. Brazil managed to win games two and four, sending the match into a deciding fifth set.

With Brazil leading the final set 5-3, U.S. coach Karch Kiraly (Santa Barbara High 1978 grad) called timeout. His team took the floor with resolve and tied the score at 6-6 when Avery Skinner’s kill ended a long rally, with both teams digging balls all over the court.

The Americans went on a four-point run after the last tie at 8-8. Kiraly pumped his fists when Annie Drew’s putaway put them ahead 12-8. The winners scored their final points on a block by Haleigh Washington, a Brazil error, and another smash by Plummer.

Italy swept Turkey (25-22, 25-19, 25-22) in the other semifinal. Ranked No. 1 coming into the Olympics, the Italians have lost just one set in their five matches.

The gold-medal match will take place at 4 a.m. Sunday, Pacific time.